


Blushy-Crushy Lessons Part 2

by Summer_Dusk



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Mòrag was called a man one too many times, written for the lols
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 06:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14948918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summer_Dusk/pseuds/Summer_Dusk
Summary: This time it's Mòrag's turn.





	Blushy-Crushy Lessons Part 2

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ikasury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikasury/gifts).



> This idea emerged in the comment section of Ikasury's "Inquisitor Nyah" fic - and someone HAD to write it down :D  
> This is for you Ikasury, I hope you have as much fun reading as I had writing!

“A fine choice, good sir!”, Finch’s voice said as soon as Mòrag equipped the blade’s weapon. The Ardainian driver supressed a disgruntled sigh. She should have been used to those words by now, but today they seemed to hit an especially sensitive nerve. 

“Please don’t call me that.”, Mòrag told the small blade sternly, despite knowing that Finch would never learn.

The green-feathered girl rose a fist to the air. “Gotcha, Mòrnia!”

“I told you: it’s Mòrag. Mò-RAG.” Another futile attempt, Mòrag knew, but still, she could not help the urge to correct the blade every time anew.

Today was certainly off to a good start…

 

~

 

“My pet Pippito!!”, the Tantalese girl shouted when she saw Rex and his friends approach. “You brought him back!”

“Yeah, that little beast wandered quite far off…”, Nia mumbled when she recalled the ordeal from having to wander from Theosoir all the way down to Tantal’s lower level. No way that beast was tame, if it had gone all the trouble to visit its pals in the well-hidden haunt.

“There you go.” The red and white furred creature was so large that Mòrag had to hold it tightly with both her arms in order to carry it around.

The girl was delighted. “Morris!!” As soon as Mòrag put the Pippito on the ground again, the child had glomped it and buried her head in its fur. Then, remembering her manners, she looked back at Mòrag with a big smile. “Thank you so much, sir!”

“S-sir?” The Ardainian mumbled, taken aback.

The girl did not seem to notice, instead she gave the driver a little pouch, its insides clanking lightly. “Hope that’s alright. It’s all I have.”

“Don’t worry about it.”, Rex said with a smile.

The smile on the girl’s face widened and then she ran off together with her so called pet.

“Drinks at Anastatia’s?”, Zeke suggested after they were done.

“Nothing better to end the day.”, Nia agreed. “Even you have your bright moments sometimes, Shellhead.”

“Watch it, furry ears!”

Nia just laughed and together the group made its way to the inn – except for one person, who seemed to have frozen on the spot.  
“Is everything alright, Lady Mòrag?”, Brighid asked her driver curiously. Mòrag had yet to move an inch from the spot she had released the Pippito at.

Hearing her own name seemed to pull the driver from her thoughts. She put her hands behind her back and looked towards Brighid. “Tell me, Brighid: do I come across as… feminine to you?”

Brighid rose an eyebrow. “Why yes, you do.”

“Hm.” Mòrag should have expected such an answer. Brighid knew her the best, after all. It was impossible for her to see her driver as anything else than herself. Maybe it would be best to consult someone who wasn’t as close to her and could give her a more… impartial view.

 

It was late evening.

Pyra, Brighid, Poppi, Tora, Nia, Mòrag and Pandoria were still sitting around one of the tables at Anastatia’s.  
“Anywayyy, so this dude looks at us like “you wanna go, punk?” and my prince doesn’t get the vibe in the room at _all_ …” Pandoria was narrating one of the many mishaps happening to her and Zeke during their years of traveling.

“I assume this ends up with Shellhead getting his teeth knocked out, yeah?”, Nia guessed while she took a sip from her beer.

“Nooo! I mean, technically…”, Pandoria replied, unsure on how to word her answer. “I’m just gonna finish and you will see what I mean.”

Mòrag had blocked out most of the conversation since she was still occupied with her own thoughts. She looked at the other members of her team, the female ones that is, and mused over the question why _they_ never got mistaken for a male. For the most part, the answer was obvious. Their clothing did leave only little to imagination after all, but even Nia, who was all covered up and behaved and talked like a ruffian most of the time did not seem to get mixed up in the confusion.

There was loud laughter when Pandoria finished her tale and Mòrag winced a bit, seeing how the sudden turn up of the volume had caught her off-guard.  
  
“Damn, that Shellhead always finds ways to aim for new heights of stupidity.”, Nia commented with a smirk.

“Meh, but that in past?”, Tora asked.

“It’s still true though.”, Pandoria just shrugged and Nia agreed with another laugh.

Everyone was still occupied with the tale and when Pyra took a sip from her tea, Mòrag decided that this was her opportunity to ask the blade the question that had been weighing in her mind. Good, thing they were sitting next to each other, that way she could whisper the question discreetly into the fire blade’s ear.

“Pyra?”

The blade blinked and gazed curiously towards Mòrag. “Yes?”

“Do you think of me as…”, there may have been a blush on Mòrag’s face, “…feminine?”

Pyra just stared at her wide-eyed. She certainly had not expected this question from the Special Inquisitor herself. It had never even crossed her mind that Mòrag may have been self-conscious about her outer appearance. She blinked and remembered to answer: “Oh, um… why do you ask?”

“It’s just that certain… incidents seem to become more frequent lately.”

“Oh, I see.” Pyra eyed her very closely. “You’re a beautiful woman, Mòrag, there is nothing wrong with you.”, she finally replied.

Next to Pyra, one of Nia’s ears pricked up. “Mh? What’s this talk about Mòrag being beautiful?”

The Special Inquisitor froze, and thanks to Nia’s intervention, the focus shifted towards their end of the table.

“N-nothing.”, Mòrag answered. She cleared her throat and occupied herself by taking an especially big sip out of her glass.

Pyra stayed silent, not wanting to embarrass the poor Special Inquisitor further, but it was Brighid who answered instead: “It seems that Lady Mòrag is a bit concerned with her appearance lately.”

Mòrag snapped back at her, the indignation clearly showing on her face. “Brighid!”, that wasn’t a shout, she swore.

Poppi cocked her head. “Why?”

Pandoria, too, only furrowed her brows in confusion. “Yeah, why? You take very good care of your appearance!”

“This is _not_ about my appearance.”, Mòrag clarified. “I’m just trying to understand why I get mistaken for a man so often.”

Nia crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Does this really happen all that often?”

Tora looked curiously towards Nia and then Mòrag. “Tora can imagine very well! Thought Mòrag was man too for long while!”

Nia frowned. “I mean, you’re a Nopon.”  
  
“Mehmeh?! What this supposed to mean?” Tora turned to look at her, surprised and offended at once.

“So…”, Pandoria began, to get the conversation back on track, “What happened?”

“N-nothing, it’s just that Finch always calls me ‘Sir’…”

“I mean, it’s Finch…”, Pyra intervened with a flat smile. “She’d probably call any of us that.”

“And the girl today too.”, Mòrag continued.

“Ey, let’s not forget that the Tantalese aren’t exactly the brightest bulbs in the box.”, Nia just waved that concern away. “The cold probably just froze all their brain cells, yeah?”

There was a snort from Pandoria. “Yup, we do have our own magnificent specimen to confirm that.”

There was a fanged smirk on Nia’s face now. “Yeah, or that completely bonkers writer woman.”

Mòrag frowned when she heard that. “Don’t remind me.” Another case where she had been blatantly misgendered. “Fine, if we take the Tantalese out of the equation, then how about that incident in Argentum?”

The group remembered. They had been at the Goldmouth again to shop for supplies and had arrived late at night, much to their luck that meant they could do their shopping unbothered – but certain crowds were more active during the night than others…

The woman clearly had been an escort, scantily clad, and had tried to get Mòrag to employ her services. She had probably thought that a man of the military would have been an easy target, far away from home and maybe a loved one, with certain _needs_ … She had gotten very close to Mòrag and had been very suavely deploying body language too… Not wanting to hurt her, Mòrag had been at a loss on how to deal with her – until Nia had caught on what was happening and had sent the woman away with some very brusque words and hissing.

“Well, that…”, Pyra frowned.

“Maybe it does happen a bit more often than we thought…”, Pandoria agreed.

“And now Mòrag wonder why this happens?”, Tora asked to make sure.

“Yes.”; Mòrag confirmed curtly.

“Well, you do dress like a man…”, Pandoria said while crossing her arms. “Maybe… wear something more girlish?”, she suggested with a frown.

In response, Mòrag cast a death-gaze so dire at the electric-elementary blade that it made her yelp and hide behind Brighid. Her driver had once suggested the same thing and sometimes Mòrag still dreamt about laying the very fire she told Zeke to go die in.  
“My clothes will remain as they are. I will not budge on that matter.”

“We are representatives of Mor Ardain during this journey.”, Brighid explained. “So they are an obligation.”

Nia leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Somethin’s tellin’ me she wouldn’t change her style even if that wasn’t the case.”, she muttered. “You could at least lose that hat and let people see your face proper.”, she suggested.

Mòrag’s only response was to eye her _very_ sternly through the metal visor of said hat.

Nia just put her hands up in apparent defeat. “Sheesh…”

“So, if you don’t want to change your appearance…”, Pyra thought aloud.

“It’s not like she doesn’t look feminine up close.”, Pandoria added. “She takes more care in her outer appearance than some others…” There was a look at Tora’s and Nia’s direction.

“Mehmeh?! Tora have you know that Tora takes lots of care in appearance!”

“Oi, you wanna tell me something?!” There was a raised fist towards Pandoria's direction.

Pandoria just smiled slyly, yet half her body was still hidden behind Brighid’s.

Pyra cleared her throat to bring the attention back to the topic at hand. “If her appearance is fine as it is and she doesn’t want to change her clothes… are there any other options left then?”

It was then when an ominous chuckle arose from the depths of Tora’s throat. The rest of his friends looked at him curiously. “Tora knows what problem is.”, he announced and for some reason it sounded eerier than it should. There was a knowing glint in his eyes.

Mòrag rose an eyebrow. “Really now?”, she asked. She folded her hands and leaned a bit towards him, obviously intrigued.

“Yes, yes.”, Tora confirmed. “Friend Mòrag just doesn’t _behave_ girly enough.”

“My behavior…?”, the Ardainian woman repeated.

Tora nodded. “First impression of Mòrag was very scary. Tora feared for life.”, he explained. “Friend always looked ready to wreak havoc. In Mor Ardain too!”

Nia and Pyra frowned, exchanging a glance.  
  
“Well, can’t argue with that…”, Nia agreed slowly.

“Her demeanor was very… imperious?”, Pyra thought aloud.

Pandoria agreed with a nod. “She always has this authoritative aura. That could be a reason why people mistake her, together with the uniform and the limited sight on her face.”

“Hm…” Brighid had a hand on her chin as she thought about it. “Interesting… he may be onto something here.”

Mòrag’s gaze wandered sideways. If even Brighid agreed then maybe she should believe Tora. She looked back towards the Nopon again. “So what you are saying is that I should work on my expression?”

“Yes, and Tora knows just the thing to help! It called blushy-crushy in Nopon language!”, the Nopon went on, suddenly looking very excited.

“Blushy…” There was an obvious aversion in her expression when Mòrag rose her eyebrow. “…Crushy?” Again, she gazed towards Brighid but the flame blade only shrugged in response. She obviously had no idea either what that was supposed to mean.

“Oh no…”, Nia only mumbled. “Not this again.”

“Question!” Pandoria rose a hand, as if she was in a school lesson. “What exactly is blushy-crushy?”

“Tora glad Pandoria asked.” He rose one of his wings. “It essence of girliness.”

Nia narrowed her eyes. “Didn’t you say something about maidiness last time?”

Tora turned to her. “Maid is most girliest form of girl!”

There was a flat look from Nia in response.

Tora turned towards Mòrag again. “Blushy-crushy good for many things! Can help Mòrag appear more feminine!”

“Interesting…”, Mòrag only said and Nia couldn’t believe her ears.  
“Oi, you can’t be serious…!”, there was utter disbelief in her voice.

“If Mòrag wants, Tora can teach Mòrag art of blushy-crushy.”

There was a moment of consideration in which Mòrag watched the Nopon and his artificial blade silently. She also gave a sideways glance towards Brighid who seemed so far unfazed by the whole discussion. “Very well.”, she finally agreed.

Nia’s eyes opened wide from the shock. “This isn’t gonna end well…!”

Tora grinned, as if that was just what he had wanted to hear. “Poppi, activate maid protocol.”, he told his blade.

Poppi alpha stood up and walked in front of the table so that all her friends could see her properly. “How may I be of service, masterpon? Tee-hee!”, she asked, the sweetest smile on her face, while posing all cutely.

“Tora want Poppi to teach Mòrag all about blushy-crushy.”, Tora ordered her. He turned towards Mòrag. “Go up to Poppi and do as Poppi says.”

The change of Poppi’s demeanor had thrown Mòrag off a bit; admittedly though, she wanted to know more before she discarded the idea completely. So she stood up and walked up right next to Poppi.  
“Tell me more.”, she asked of the artificial blade.

“Mòrag please, turn back.”, Nia begged. “I can’t lose you to that crap too.” But no one really paid attention to her words.

“Blushy-crushy is external magnification of love feelings inside heart.”, Poppi went on to explain.

There was a frown on Mòrag’s face which let Nia hope that the Ardainian driver had not joined the dark side yet.

“Hm, so this… blushy-crushy is a mindset of sorts.”, Mòrag thought aloud, a gloved hand on her chin. It actually made sense: If she always exuded the authority of a high ranked military officer, a position usually associated with men, then it was no surprise that people mistook her as such. Now, if there was a way to channel this mindset whenever needed…

“That right.”, Poppi confirmed.

“Love feelings inside my heart…” Mòrag frowned. “Do I think of a loved one to get into this kind of mindset then?”

Oh, no. No, no, no, no… She was considering it. Seriously considering it. Nia rose her hand to signalize the barkeeper that she wanted another drink. “I’m too sober for this.”

Brighid watched her behavior with mild curiosity. “I feel like you are over exaggerating a bit here.”

“Oh, you’ve seen _nothing_ yet…”, Nia just said and took the beer mug Viccus offered to her, and gulped half of it down as if it was nothing.

“She is…”, Pyra agreed. “It’s not _that_ bad…”

“Of course you’d say that. Gotta justify your past sins…”

Pandoria on the other hand was focused on the happenings in front of her.

“Poppi can teach magic chant to magnify love feelings.”, the artificial blade answered. “Please chant with Poppi.”

Mòrag straightened her posture, her hands behind her back as always. “Go ahead.”, she said, obviously ready for whatever was to come.

“Cutey-cutey, lovely-lovely, blushy-crushy!”, Poppi recited, all while posing cutely. She ended with a wink and a cutesy “Tee-hee.”

Now Brighid actually looked taken aback. Would Lady Mòrag really copy Poppi one to one? She looked at her driver who seemed to have _some_ second thoughts at least.

“I – I am not sure if I can…”, Mòrag stammered when she saw Poppi’s little performance, red slowly creeping up her cheeks.

“Oh, thank the Architect.”, Nia exhaled with relief. “She hasn’t lost her common sense.”

“If Mòrag wants to be seen as woman, then Mòrag has to chant too.”, Tora said matter-of-factly. “It only way!”

“O-only?” The thought seemed to appall the Special Inquisitor.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.”, Pandoria commented, her tail curiously swinging back and forth.

“Does that really work?”, Mòrag asked, her eyes staring directly at Tora now.

Tora started to sweat. “O-of course! But only if Mòrag masters art! Needs full devotion!”

Pyra nodded. “It sure did work when I tried it on Rex.”

Nia slowly turned to face the flame blade next to her, horrified. “You _actually_ went and did that?”

“Oh, my.”, Brighid only said.

Pandoria perked up and watched the Aegis curiously.

“W-what?” Pyra seemed a bit apprehensive. “It worked, just like he said.” She stood up, and both Nia and Brighid had the strong feeling that she did that to avoid them.

Pyra walked up next to Mòrag and Poppi. “I know it looks a bit embarrassing, but… it worked for me.”, she told the Special Inquisitor, an encouraging, if a bit bashful smile on her lips. “Come on, I will do it with you.”

“I- I see… Thank you.”, Mòrag only said.

Then the three got in position again.  
Poppi was the first to chant the words again, then followed Pyra – whom Tora complimented on her stellar progress as compared to the last time in Garfont – and then it was Mòrag’s turn.

Nia took a preemptive sip from her beer.  
Next to her, Brighid’s features grew concerned, while part of her wished she had some nice strong whiskey in her glass.

“Cutey-cutey! Lovely-lovely! Blushy-crushy!”, Mòrag sounded like she was barking orders at her soldiers, despite the words.

Brighid hid her face in shame. How did her driver look so serious while at the same time chanting something this ridiculous?

Tora almost fell from his chair. “Meh!! Mehmeh! That too loud and scary!”

Nia almost choked on her beer.

“Please adjust voice and posture to Pyra’s and Poppi’s!”, he begged.

“I – I see…” A bit taken aback by the response, Mòrag cleared her throat and decided to try again. “Cutey-cutey… lovely-lovely, blushy-crushy!”, a bit awkward in the beginning, but certainly an improvement from before – at least when only the voice was considered. Otherwise Mòrag just stood there stiffly as she recited the so called magic chant.

Tora put one of his wings underneath his chin. “That better, but posture still titan peds off!”

“J-just let it go…”, Nia silently begged after recovering from her coughing fit. “This is just a titanship wreck waiting to happen…” No one listened to her of course – except Brighid who silently agreed.

Mòrag looked at the two blades by her side and Pyra and Poppi offered her suggestions for cute poses: Pyra held her hands down together, while her arms clearly surrounded and emphasized her chest. Poppi on the other hand took a more youthful approach as she jumped on the spot and then leaned towards Mórag, again with the sweet smile.

Mòrag thought a bit about it and gave it another go:  
“Cutey-cutey”, Brighid almost did not dare to spread the fingers on her face apart, so that she could get a look at the situation again. (Part of Nia wondered why she had hid her face at all when her eyes were closed all the time anyway.), “Lovely-lovely, blushy-crushy!”, Mòrag said, obviously having overcome her shame to say the words, her cute pose was lackluster, trying to imitate Pyra’s but not really succeeding, but she did cock her head sideways and smiled awkwardly while adding a “Tee-hee” to her words at least.

Tora nodded in acknowledgement. “Mòrag improves very fast!”, he encouraged her. “Maybe, it help if we switch to Person-Focused Blushy-Crushy Maximization Mode.”, he thought aloud.

“Do I… want to know?”, Brighid asked warily.

Nia shook her head in dismay. She ordered another beer.

“What would be the difference to now?”, Mòrag inquired, standing at parade rest once again.

“Words said would be tailored to talking to special person.”, Poppi explained. “Like Rex or Zeke maybe.”

Mòrag frowned. “I think I’m good.”

“Doesn’t have to be them!”, Tora was quick to explain. “And maybe it will be easier for Mòrag if focus is only on one person. May feel less embarrassed then.”

“Hm, I see…” Mòrag lowered her gaze as she thought about it. She could see his point, it was a commonly used practice to just focus on one person when giving a speech, too. It helped becoming unaware of the surroundings if the audience was too large and made the speaker nervous for example. She looked towards her seated friends and tried to decide whom to choose for this task.

They only one she’d feel comfortable enough to say such ridiculous things too… Her eyes wandered to Brighid, the blade who had known her for half her life and who had witnessed enough of her embarrassing moments already.

“It can’t hurt to try.”, she eventually agreed.

Poppi, having followed her line of sight, immediately adjusted to the new situation. “Brighid-Focused Blushy-Crushy Maximization Mode activated!”, she announced. She approached the table a bit and made a small bow. “How may I be of service, Lady Brighid? Tee-hee!”, she asked in her uncharacteristically saccharine voice.

Brighid leaned back aversely.

“Lady Brighid, Poppi is blushy-crushy just for you.”, the artificial blade smiled innocently at her.

Nia had the distinct impression that Brighid’s flames stood out a bit more than before, crackling louder too. She couldn’t tell from her facial expression, but Brighid seemed angry somehow.

“Oh, now _that’s_ an interesting mode.”, Pandoria said, pushing her glasses a bit back while she followed the situation.

Mòrag approached after Poppi and when she cleared her throat to actually speak those beneath-her-dignity words, Brighid decided she had enough. “This is officially too much.” She stood up and quite literally fled the room in her own dignified way.

“O-oi! You can’t leave me alone with those ninnies!”, Nia called after her, without success.

Poppi’s and Pyra’s gazes wandered to her. The scariest thing about all this was that they were smiling.

 

* * *

 

“Merciful Architect on the World Tree above…”, Nia muttered by the end of this night. “Don’t you ever do such a stupid thing ever again, ya hear me?” Her voice was a slur, thanks to the amount of beer she had consumed in order to survive the ordeal.

Mòrag had one of Nia’s arms around her shoulders, so that she could walk the barely conscious woman back to her room. The others were still at it, because Pandoria had expressed sudden interest in the Person-Focused Blushy-Crushy Maximization Mode.

“I really thought it could have helped…”

“You’re really daft…”, Nia just said. She suppressed a heavy sigh. “Why do you even care so much, ey? The only people who mistake you for a man are those who don’t know you well enough.” She rose her head, which took way more effort than necessary, and looked the Ardainian driver in the face. “I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about those.”

“I suppose you have a point.”, Mòrag admitted with a defeated smile. “I just got tired of it, I guess, since I do put quite some time and effort in my appearance.”

“Yeah, I can see that…”, Nia gave her a fanged smirk. “Y’know it may help if you just smiled a bit more often. And maybe if you didn’t hide your face so much, move the hat a bit more upwards, yeah?” She moved her free arm towards Mòrag and flicked the visor of her hat back.

“All set.”, her smile was a bit wider now.

Mòrag chuckled at this. “I will keep that in mind.”, she promised and gave Nia a smile, just like she had suggested.

“There we have it, perfectly lovely woman right there.”, Nia commented and gave her an affectionate knock to the side. Then she let go and stumbled the last few steps towards her room.

Mòrag watched her enter and then made her way towards her own, hoping that Brighid would let her live this one down.


End file.
